by Jeong Ilwoong
Published 21 Jan.2025 11:02(KST)
The Korea Customs Service has set the elimination of protectionist trade barriers and economic recovery as its top priorities this year, focusing its institutional capabilities accordingly.
On the 21st, the Korea Customs Service announced the ‘2025 Major Work Plan of the Korea Customs Service.’ The plan establishes three main goals: national prosperity, social safety, and leading global trade standards, and sets 15 tasks across five key areas related to these goals.
Among these, support for eliminating protectionist trade barriers and economic recovery is the highest priority. To address protectionist trade barriers, the Korea Customs Service will strengthen the analytical functions of the ‘Supply Chain Early Warning System (C-EWS)’ to enable rapid responses such as imposing emergency tariffs, discovering alternative trading partners when global supply chains do not operate due to export-import quotas, and more. The plan is to expand the scope of analysis by combining derived variables such as market concentration and adding cargo and export data to import data, thereby broadening the capacity to respond to situations.
To help domestic companies cope with new environmental regulations such as the European Union (EU)’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the Korea Customs Service will also promote the development and free distribution of a carbon emissions management system using existing FTA-PASS and other tools. CBAM requires mandatory reporting of carbon emissions when exporting six items?steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, electricity, and hydrogen?to EU countries, and imposes a carbon tax when offsetting the carbon emissions of products produced within the region. This system is scheduled to be officially implemented starting January next year.
Reducing the burden on the export industry to support economic recovery is another major task the Korea Customs Service will pursue this year. Innovation of 16 regulations in the bonded processing sector will be prioritized to enhance the global competitiveness of advanced export industries such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, and bio industries. The bonded regulation innovation includes simplifying procedures for the export and import of research and testing materials and cargo transportation between bonded factories, strengthening the autonomy of bonded factory management, and alleviating inventory management and tax payment burdens.
Additionally, 32 items including dried seaweed and gas masks will be added to the simplified fixed-amount refund target list to facilitate quick and easy refunds of customs duties paid on raw material imports. Tax support measures such as deferral of customs investigations, exemption from collateral, and deferral of VAT payments will also be extended to small business owners to assist their entry into export markets.
Efforts to block hazardous goods such as narcotics at border checkpoints will also be emphasized. This year, the Korea Customs Service plans to expand its international cooperation partners for narcotics control to countries in the Americas and Europe as well as related international organizations, and to institutionalize regular collaboration. Furthermore, advanced equipment such as thermal imaging detectors will be additionally deployed on-site, and facilities to strengthen narcotics interdiction capabilities, including an X-ray interpretation training center and a national detection dog center, will be expanded to enhance enforcement capabilities.
Ko Gwang-hyo, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, stated, “The goal of customs administration this year is to rapidly produce innovative results that the public and businesses can tangibly feel.” He added, “In the process of implementing the work plan into practical administration, we will focus on ‘effect’ rather than ‘output,’ and concentrate institutional capabilities on repeated internal and external evaluation, reflection, and innovation.”
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